For the first time in my life - I fell asleep before 9pm last night, afflicted by jetlag from this trip I made to be in Israel for the hostage releases, having just made it back for the release of American hostage Keith Siegel, and praying Or Levy would be released very soon.
Yesterday, when volunteering in Hostage Square, a man came to the table and asked about scheduled events in the square, and I said, "You should definitely come on Saturday to watch the releases on the big screen."
The woman volunteering with me said - "There are no more releases."
"What are you talking about?" I exclaimed. "This weekend!"
"Not anymore," she replied. "Not now that Netanyahu went to Washington. They will not be negotiating Phase Two. That is their 'premise' to meet."
I knew what she meant about that, but said "Phase One is on - until the end of the month!"
The man stood there watching us, seeming to understand where we were both coming from.
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Because I fell asleep so early, I woke up around 3am, and saw all the newsy texts, so instead of reading about the press conference, I watched it on YouTube.
I started off shocked and ecstatic to hear such bold statements actually said out loud about moving all of the Palestinians to neighboring countries (somehow?) - and the US "taking over" the Gaza strip.
I then wondered if it could really work, or really happen - as well as if it was legal.
I then allowed myself to really imagine it - a safe Gaza bordering Israel, with no Hamas, no danger, and no threat whatsoever. I imagined the tunnels being gone, and the rockets that have terrorized the neighborhoods in the Gaza Envelope for decades now to simply never - ever - be shot in their direction, forcing everyone to dive for cover in nine short seconds.
It was hard to imagine all of this, but completely wonderful.
I think I had about ten minutes of this bliss and this fantasy - and then - it hit me.
WHY ON EARTH ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT THIS NOW?
I imagined Hamas listening to this.
I imagined IRAN listening to this, and my blood went cold. My heart stopped beating.
I thought about the Michael Levy, waiting to see if it is finally his brother Or Levy being released this weekend for Almog, Or's three-year-old son whose mother was murdered on October 7th, who has been without both parents for almost a year and a half now - who will be an orphan if his father doesn't get out alive.
I thought about the 1000 or so people from Kibbutz Be'eri waiting for the three hostages thought to still be alive - Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Tal Shoham, two of whom are in their 50s and one who just turned 40 last week...it was likely at least one would be released this weekend if not both or even all three...will this gigantic announcement affect this weekend's releases?
How can it not?
So far, in my brief scouring of the internet, I haven't seen much out there worried about this, just a joke about Gaza becoming the "51st state," and lots of chest-thumping for Netanyahu and Trump being so proud of themselves.
Don't get me wrong - I actually think that this crazy idea is a GREAT IDEA - after we have rescued THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL - and I don't only mean the hostages when I say this - but Israeli society who have been devastated since October 7th, 2023 due to members of their country being dragged from their beds into the depths of hell and left there to starve and rot and be tortured all of this time.
And now - just when we finally start to rescue them and to free them from this hell - just when we finally have a plan in place to at least save another 20 by the end of February, only 12 of whom we know are alive, and when this meeting in DC was supposed to be about securing a plan to get out the remaining 79 (there would be 59 if Phase One were completed properly) - instead we let Hamas know we are taking Gaza from them?
Just when we have finally had our first exhale after more than 450 days of hell and tears and suffering, our first images of families reuniting into embraces and hugs and seen all of that love - just when Israelis have seen this on their screens and had something to look forward to on weekends, we drop this sledgehammer of an announcement?
What were they thinking? What danger are they putting our hostages in?
I hope that I am wrong to be going from elation to worry like this, and that Trump alluding to "serious violence" at the end of his speech will mean something to Hamas and that this ceasefire won't get derailed - but I feel incredibly anxious.
No announcement of such extreme consequence should have been made until our hostages were set free. It made absolutely no sense to go public with this plan yet.
Please pray for the safety of the people from many nations who were taken hostage on October 7th, 2023, that are being held by the savages of Hamas in these tunnels. Please pray for the Israelis who are in there - the people who protect the nation of Israel and all of us abroad.
They needed to come first - they matter more than anything else and should have been prioritized from the very beginning and haven't been and it appears that even now, even before Phase One has come to a successful conclusion, they may be getting sacrificed - and to a plan that may or may not be possible to actually implement.
I am afraid for today.
May G-d protect them.
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In case you want to help:
This is a labor of love and I feel called to do it, but admit it has started to cost a small fortune, between flights, rent in the US, accommodation in Israel and the building of this website. I have therefore started a GoFundMe in the hopes of getting a little bit of help to stay here another month or two to conduct these interviews with families of hostages and cover the war from the ground. Any donation, no matter how small, will go toward accommodation and bare bone travel expenses. Anything at all will be tremendously helpful and very much appreciated. With gratitude, Melanie
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